Specious

Saturday, October 25, 2025
Word of the Day

What is Specious?

adjective
Superficially plausible, but actually wrong; misleadingly attractive.

Pronunciation

US pronunciation: /ˈspiː.ʃəs/
UK pronunciation: /ˈspiː.ʃəs/
Slow pronunciation: SPEE-shus

Meaning Explained

Specious arguments glitter and deceive — they look polished but prove hollow.

Why This Word?

Chosen to encourage rigorous skepticism and better debates.

Examples of Use

Here's how this word appears in everyday language:

  • He dismantled the specious comparison with data.
  • Specious promises filled the brochure.
  • The specious “common sense” ignored counterexamples.

Word Origins

Latin speciosus “fair to look at,” from species “appearance”

Beauty of appearance turned into fraud of reasoning.

First appearance in English: late Middle English

Word Family

Related forms of this word:

  • Adjective: spurious

    A spurious quote fooled readers.

  • Noun: sophistry

    Sophistry dressed up specious logic.

  • Adjective: plausible

    Plausible but wrong arguments abound.

Around the World

How this word appears in other languages:

  • Spanish: especioso / falaz
  • French: spécieux
  • German: trügerisch
  • Italian: specioso / fallace
  • Portuguese: especioso / falaz

If you Already Know This Word

If you've mastered this word, try these more advanced alternatives:

Spurious

Flatly false; specious is deceptively plausible.

Fallacious

General false reasoning; specious stresses surface appeal.

Meretricious

Attractively gaudy; specious is intellectual gaudiness.

Fun Facts

  • Cognates of *spec-* spawn “spectator, species, specimen” — all about appearance.
  • Specious differs from “spurious”: the latter is simply false.

Cultural Usage

  • Textbooks warn against specious reasoning and fallacies.
  • Fact-checkers expose specious claims in ads.

Common Mistakes

Not “spacious”; don’t let spelling mislead you.

Micro Story

The proposal’s specious statistics collapsed under scrutiny.